Monday, March 1, 1999 | 10:59 a.m.
After losing four of its last six, UNLV in must-win situation
Here we go again.
Thanks to its inconsistent, sometimes selfish play and inability to embrace success, UNLV finds itself in the same predicament it was a year ago at this time.
For the Rebels to earn a berth to the 1999 NCAA Tournament, deja vu will have to occur at the Thomas & Mack Center this week at the Western Athletic Conference tournament.
Last year, Bill Bayno's club had to win four games in five days to earn the conference's automatic pass to the Big Dance. This year, it's slightly easier, as the Rebels have to win just three games, starting at 9 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Tuesday night's opening-round game between Texas-El Paso and Southern Methodist.
In Tuesday's other opening-round games, Fresno State faces Colorado State, which beat Air Force Saturday to earn its way into the tourney as the Mountain Division's sixth seed, Texas Christian meets Brigham Young and Rice goes against San Jose State.
Joining UNLV with first-round byes are co-Mountain champ Tulsa (which will face the Fresno-CSU winner Thursday), Pacific champ Utah (which went undefeated at 14-0 and plays the TCU-BYU survivor) and New Mexico (the Pacific runner-up which limps into town after absorbing a 77-47 thrashing from Utah). The Lobos will meet the Rice-San Jose winner.
UNLV has the home-court edge. But it's still going to mean winning three on consecutive nights. With this team's unpredictable nature, to try to predict what will happen is folly.
"I don't know what it is," star forward Shawn Marion said in the aftermath of Saturday's regular-season ending 79-76 loss to Wyoming in Laramie. "We need to regroup and bring it Thursday."
Bayno knows exactly what "it" is. He has a limited half-court offense and that puts added pressure on the defense to create scoring opportunities at the other end in transition.
"We don't have great one-on-one players," he said. "We're playing underhanded with Kas (center Kaspars Kambala) out. Offensively, we get tentative and each tentative possession causes another one.
"Guys are selfish. They're worried about themselves instead of sharing the ball and playing together."
There's not a lot of time to get things straightened out between now and Thursday. And Bayno said there's no magic formula at this point to get this team playing on an even keel for 40 minutes.
"It's simple," he said of the plan for the next three days. "You get into the gym and you work on it."
But he also knows his team faces a daunting task this week.
"It's not going to be easy," he said. "Everyone's got the same challenge. If you don't play your best or close to your best, it's going to be hard to win."
It wouldn't be that hard if the rest of the Rebels emulated Marion's consistent effort. He has been steady from Day One and is finishing his first year of Division I ball with a flourish.
Saturday, he had 24 points, 14 rebounds and five steals against Wyoming to cap a week where he averaged 25 points and 16.7 rebounds in three games. It netted the 6-7 junior Mountain Division Player of the Week honors, something many believed was long overdue.
"I can't say enough about Shawn and what he has come in here and done," Bayno said. "He has performed at a high level just about every night and has never, not once, complained about anything, like how many shots he was getting, how many points he was scoring. All he has ever cared about is winning."
Marion said he'd prefer to lead by example instead of being vocal toward his teammates to get them in step with him. But they don't always follow his lead.
"I'm trying to lead by actions," he said. "I just want the rest of the team to follow."
It might be a good idea if they did. Because there's no more margin for error. One loss, even if it were to come in Saturday's game, and the Rebels are NIT-bound -- and on the road no less, with the Thomas & Mack not available next week.
"We have to win the WAC tournament to get in," Bayno said of the team's NCAA hopes. "If we could've won this game (at Wyoming), played well and gotten into the finals, maybe we could've gone.
Two weeks ago, UNLV was looking like a strong candidate for an NCAA at-large berth after winning at Tulsa and holding a 15-8 overall record. But after dropping its final two home games to SMU and TCU along with losing to Wyoming Saturday, the Rebels have played themselves off the board, as well as off the bubble.
Now, it's the same drill as last year -- all or nothing.
"It's not going to be easy. Everyone's got the same challenge. If you don't play your best or close to your best, it's going to be hard to win."Bill BaynoRebels coach
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